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Import and local polyolefin prices in Indonesia have witnessed a new round of increases this week, with sellers attributing the uptrend to strong crude oil futures along with expectations of an improvement in demand ahead of the Ramadan month...

Although there were several bearish factors pushing players to hold softer expectations, a major Taiwanese producer’s decision to cut its April PVC prices to China and India sharply caught most Asian players by surprise...

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Turkey’s US PVC import volume lowest since 2008

November import statistics of Turkey were revealed on ChemOrbis with overall PVC imports in November suggesting an approximate decrease of 19% on a monthly basis and 16% on a yearly basis. Cumulative PVC imports in the January-November period, meanwhile, display a yearly decrease of 8%.

Also of note, PVC cargoes imported from the US in November hit the lowest levels seen since 2008 on a monthly basis. Cumulative imports made from the US between January-November also indicate a decrease of 28% from last year. This figure is the lowest it’s been in the past 6 years, according to ChemOrbis Import Statistics.

“Demand was rather poor in September and October due to the slowing construction sector, cash constraints and political uncertainty. Therefore, the number of deals concluded for US PVC was very limited, which has resulted in a low volume of imports in November,” said a trader.

Although statistics reveal that the US saw the largest decrease of imports, there was a yearly decrease for almost all origins of PVC imports for the January-November period. Turkey’s second largest PVC supplier, France, faced a yearly decrease of 15% in cumulative imports while imports from Mexico, the third largest supplying country to Turkey, shrank by 17%.

A second trader thinks revised antidumping duties played a role in the low import volumes for US PVC. “Once antidumping duties were changed from $45/ton to 18.81% in July 2015 for US PVC, buying interest was hampered. Although re-exporters do not pay either customs duties or antidumping duties, this change caused a higher limit in letters of guarantee provided by banks to the buyers. As banks are not eager to provide higher limits for companies who are not financially strong, buying appetite for US PVC eventually reduced to some extent,” he commented.

On the other hand, some traders reported having concluded more deals in November and early December due to the lower prices for this origin and buyers’ tendencies to stock up for January to take advantage of year-end prices. Therefore, they expect to see a higher volume of imports in December and January statistics.

“The year 2015 may not end up with a dramatic decrease such as 28% for US PVC imports once December data is published. However, it is for sure that it will not catch up with the performance of the past few years,” commented a player.

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